


Babyface

by hotwheels_kin



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Derek carries Spencer hehe, First Dates, M/M, Pet Names, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, just cute ish per usual, this is soooo cheesy omfg if you're lactose intolerant watch out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25212763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotwheels_kin/pseuds/hotwheels_kin
Summary: The sequel to puff_the_magic_dragon's "Live a Little" wherein Derek takes Spencer on a surprise first date, and not everything goes as planned...
Relationships: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Comments: 6
Kudos: 86





	Babyface

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puff_the_magic_dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puff_the_magic_dragon/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Live a Little](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24339562) by [puff_the_magic_dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puff_the_magic_dragon/pseuds/puff_the_magic_dragon). 



> Inspired by "Babyface" by U2 as well haha

It was stupid, really. Spencer had just seen Derek at work yesterday, and everything was fine and normal. Well, Elle had said something along the lines of: _You seem kind of quiet today, Reid. Everything alright?_ To which Spencer had mumbled that he was fine, and then made sure he hit his daily random fact quota. Elle definitely knew something was up, but she also knew that she wasn’t going to get anything out of him quite yet. 

It had been a week since the team went out for drinks together and Spencer had made only a little bit of a fool out of himself. It had been a week since Derek had asked him out on a date. It almost didn’t even feel real. The nerves hadn’t hit him until yesterday, when he realized the next time he’d see Derek was on their date. 

And now he was sitting in his desk chair in his bedroom, having a staring contest with two brown sweater vests with slightly different patterns. But the real question was not which vest, by why was he even worrying about it? It was just Derek. 

However, Derek was not _just Derek._

His brain was running a mile a minute, rehearsing every conceivable (and inconceivable) scenario. Spencer and Derek go on a date to a cheap Chinese restaurant, dimly lit and almost empty, but the food is amazing, and they talk about what they do for fun, the latest episode of a reality TV show, and that new skyscraper going up. Spencer and Derek go on a date to a Mexican restaurant where the food is good but spicy, and Spencer gets so sick after accidentally biting into a jalapeño that he has to go home. Spencer and Derek go to a ridiculously nice restaurant and Spencer is underdressed, and even though he knows what a sommelier is, he has no idea what to do when she comes to their table with a bunch of wines Spencer can’t pronounce. Or, Derek doesn’t come to pick him up at all, and Spencer is stuck, frozen, staring at these vests until the end of time, until his flesh rots off his bones and moths have eaten away all the threads of the sweaters. 

Exhausted from mental calisthenics and staring contests, Spencer pushed off of his desk, rolling his chair across the room towards his closet. He stood, plucked a purple vest from its hanger, and left his room. 

Derek said he’d pick Spencer up at 6:00, and he arrived at exactly 6:03. Those three minutes were agony for Spencer in more ways than one. He almost called Derek three to make sure he was okay, and he almost called him twice to cancel. But he simply leaned against the kitchen counter in his purple sweater vest, flicking his eyes from his phone to the window, waiting. 

When Derek’s car pulled up outside, Spencer couldn’t even tell if he was relieved or not, because now the actual date part was starting. _What even is a date?_ Spencer asked himself. Was it like nineties rom coms? What do people do? Dinner and a movie? As he checked to make sure he had locked the door, he felt like he could almost punch Derek for insisting to keep where they were going a surprise.

Spencer turned around from locking the door to see that Derek was already out of the car, leaning back on it with his arms crossed. He had on a plaid dress shirt over his usual V-neck, effortlessly dressed slightly up, and Spencer immediately wanted to run back inside for one of the plain brown sweater vests. But he didn’t, because Derek’s smile was magnetic, and Spencer allowed himself to look at it longer than he normally did at work. They were on an actual date now, and Spencer decided that meant he was allowed to stare. At least a little bit.

“Hey, pretty boy.” Derek broke the silence.

Spencer tried to say hi back, but his voice was scratchy from not talking for hours, and he practically squeaked. _Smooth._ His nerves flared again, but Derek was holding the passenger door open, and Spencer realized that even though it wasn’t just Derek, it also was just Derek. Derek, his coworker at the BAU, Derek who’d saved his life in plenty of sticky situations, Derek who always goofed around and kept everyone sane, Derek who knew Spencer better than anyone, except maybe his mother. 

Sliding into the passenger seat, Spencer whispered a thank you to Derek. He couldn’t help but notice that the car was cleaner than it was when Derek drove his drunk ass home. Elle had told him about how much of a slob Derek was when they took that road trip from Georgia following the unsub who had drowned his own mother. Elle described candy wrappers and soda cans everywhere, but there wasn’t any garbage lying around as Derek hopped into the driver’s seat and they took off.

“You’re still not going to tell me where we’re going?” Spencer asked.

“Spencer, what part of _surprise_ do you not understand?” Derek replied, glancing over at him, looking like he was enjoying this torture.

“Derek, I know what a surprise is, and I don’t like them.” Spencer pouted slightly, unable to fully commit because he couldn’t help but find Derek’s insistence a bit charming.

“Okay, if it’s really killing you, I’ll tell you.” It was impossible to tell if Derek was being serious or not. “We’re going to—”

“Wait, don’t!” Spencer cut him off. Derek grinned, and Spencer knew he had just walked right into his trap. Spencer scoffed and crossed his arms. Derek put a hand on Spencer’s thigh, like he had just last week, though it felt like ages ago. He had thought about Derek putting his hand on his thigh in all of his preparatory analysis, and imagined himself combusting if it happened when he was sober. But here he was, in one piece, suddenly calm and content, a warmth rising in his chest that he didn’t recognize.

They sat quietly for the next couple minutes, Derek tapping his fingers along with the radio, and Spencer analyzing every turn he made, trying to deduce their destination as they headed out of town. If he wasn’t in the car with Derek, he would almost feel like he was about to be kidnapped. He could name eight women kidnapped in this manner, told by a charming man that they were going on a surprise date. Normally, he could hush the profiler voice inside him and tell it to keep its paranoia to itself, but in this situation, everything it had to say was just ironic and funny. He knew Derek would never do anything to hurt him, so his usual paranoia voice could only crack jokes.

As the city turned to suburbs and the suburbs turned to rolling hills outside the car window, Spencer grew more confused. “Okay, I was going to make a joke about you kidnapping me earlier and I held back. But now I’m slightly more concerned about our destination.”

“Relax, babyface. We’re almost there.” Derek winked at him and Spencer had to remind himself to breathe.

Derek took the next right onto a two lane highway, surrounded on both sides by tall tulip poplars, their yellow flowers just daring to open on this early May evening. The road meandered through the hills, choosing to go around them rather than over. Spencer noticed some deer in between the trees, lifting their heads as the car passed by. He was about to point them out when Derek suddenly slammed on the breaks and threw his arm in front of Spencer as they both reeled forward.

The tires skidded and shrieked, but they stopped just in time to not hit a deer that leapt from the bushes out onto the road. Spencer only had a moment to breathe before the car was violently jarred again, this time from behind. Then more screeching tires, and a sedan sped around them and down the road.

Once all the movement had stopped, Derek put a hand on Spencer’s shoulder and turned to him. “Spence, Spencer! Are you okay?” Panic rose in his voice.

Spencer nodded his head, trying to subdue all the adrenaline that had just been released. “Yeah, I think I’m okay.” He whispered, looking down at his trembling hands. “Are you okay?” He turned to Derek, looking him over.

“I’m good.” Derek rubbed his thumb over Spencer’s shoulder. “What the hell was all that?” Derek got out of the car and looked around. Apparently, the driver behind them hadn’t been paying attention and rear ended them when they stopped for the deer. Derek muttered some expletives under his breath as he looked at the damage. Spencer turned and pulled at the handle of the car door, but the door only creaked and refused to open.

“Uh, Derek?” Spencer pushed on the door again, to no avail. “Derek, I can’t get the door open.” 

“Huh?” Derek furrowed his brow, then came over to the passenger side. He yanked hard on the door, expecting it to open, but it was snagged on the rear door, which was deformed just enough from the crash to overlap the front. Derek put his foot on the rear door and pushed off it, finally popping the passenger door open and freeing Spencer.

“Thanks.” Spencer climbed out of the car and smoothed out his vest. 

“Course.” Derek reached over and straightened the collar of Spencer’s button up, again checking him over for injuries, just in case, running his hands down Spencer’s arms.

The two of them stood on the side of the road, looking at Derek’s busted up car. Spencer wondered what the probability was of getting into a car crash on a first date. In all of his rehearsed scenarios, this never came up. Derek started to laugh, incredulous, and Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle a little too. His nerves eased at the mere ridiculousness of it all. Life just wasn’t meant to be normal for them, but it was okay. 

“I loved this car…” Derek sighed. “And what an asshole to hit us and run. But hey, I’m just glad you, me, and the deer are alright.” Derek pointed across the road, where the deer that had started it all was now calmly grazing in a meadow. “Somehow, I knew this date wasn’t gonna go as planned. But I’m not giving up just yet, pretty boy.” Derek slung an arm over Spencer’s shoulders and smiled at him, sending a deep blush up Spencer’s cheeks. 

* * * * *

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Spencer asked, following Derek along a footpath that split off from the road and cut into the woods. Derek had called a tow truck for the car, then somehow convinced Spencer that they could just walk the rest of the way to the mysterious date location. The path was beautiful, surrounded by tulip poplars, but also every turn it took looked the same as the last.

“Trust me, babycakes. I used to come up here all the time when I was a kid. We used to fish in the lake on the weekends, but we never caught anything bigger than a minnow.” Derek was carrying a cooler and navigated the overgrown path with ease. Spencer, on the other hand, was stubbing his toe on roots and rocks left and right. Derek turned and called back, “Careful, there’s a—”

But it was too late. Spencer stepped right into a big patch of mud and slipped. But before he could fall flat on his ass, Derek caught his arm and pulled Spencer close to him. Still not fully balanced, Spencer instinctively wrapped an arm around Derek’s waist and finally steadied himself. 

“You alright there?” Derek laughed.

They hadn’t been this close to each other since… Since they kissed. Since they slept next to each other in Derek’s bed, after Spencer insisted Derek not sleep on the couch on account of Spencer’s plastered self. “I’m… I’m okay.” Spencer had to pull his arms back to his side and look away from Derek’s beaming face, worried that if he looked at it too long, he might melt into a puddle. 

“You’re, uh, sinking in the mud there.” Derek pointed out. Spencer looked down at his dress shoes, which he almost hadn’t worn, but he sure did have a knack for picking the wrong outfit for any occasion. He was almost up to his ankles in mud. When Spencer tried to pull his feet out, one of his shoes stayed lodged in the mud and he stepped forward in only a sock. 

“Oh shit.” Spencer looked down at his sock and back at his engulfed shoe, wondering if it was worth it to try and fish it out. Derek was laughing at him again. “What?” He asked, suddenly flustered.

“Nothing, nothing, I just haven’t really heard you swear before,” Derek assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, making sure Spencer knew that he meant nothing by it.

“Oh.” Spencer thought back. He did rarely swear. It wasn’t that he didn’t do so on principle. He just was rarely in a situation that made him want to. He was just trying to act like a normal human being in front of Derek, but here he was, in the middle of the woods with one shoe on. 

Derek grabbed a stick and tried to pry Spencer’s shoe from the muck, but the earth held fast, and now the mud had started filling the shoe, weighing it down. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you sooner.”

“No, I should’ve been looking where I was going.” Spencer replied, realizing he had probably been stumbling more than necessary because his eyes were on Derek. _Oops._ He started limping down the path, stepping gingerly on his shoeless foot. 

“Hey, you know what, it’s only a little farther. Let me carry you.” Derek caught up with him.

“Der, that’s…”

“Stupid, I know. But I wouldn’t want you to step on anything and hurt yourself. Come on, pretty please?” Derek stepped in front of Spencer, blocking the path. 

Spencer was stubborn, and he wanted to brave it to wherever they were going. But also… “Okay, fine.” He relented. 

Derek swept him off his feet quite literally, carrying him bridal style as he picked his way through the brush. Spencer could do nothing but blush. Okay, maybe he had imagined this once in one of the non-doomsday scenarios of how this date was going to go. And maybe being carried by Derek, safely cradled in his big, strong arms, was kind of amazing and warm and safe. Spencer barely even recognized his own thoughts. Sure, he had had crushes before, but this… this was out of control.

They arrived at the crest of a hill, and Spencer finally realized why Derek was so determined to drag Spencer out here and keep everything a surprise. Below them was a secluded lake, perfectly still, reflecting the sun as it set and the yellow blossoms of the tulip poplar trees. On the beach, a picnic blanket was all set up with candles, waiting for them.

“Derek…” Spencer whispered. Derek set him down on the blanket so his wet sock wouldn’t get all sandy. Spencer just felt bad to get the perfectly laid out blanket muddy.

“Surprise.” Derek winked. 

Spencer made shapes with his mouth, but no words came out. “It’s… it’s beautiful,” He finally managed, taking back everything he said before about not liking surprises. Well, not all surprises were valid now. Only Derek surprises.

Derek smiled, then pulled out a lighter to light the candles. “Only the best for you, babyface.” This time, Derek’s smile did in fact melt Spencer into a big puddle as he ungracefully sat down on the blanket. He sat with his legs crossed, but asymmetrically, so his gross sock wouldn’t touch his pants. 

Once the candles were all lit, Derek sat down next to Spencer, just close enough to give Spencer goosebumps. Spencer closed his eyes for a minute, just smelling the sweet, subtle scent of the tulip poplars and feeling the cool breeze of the lake, waiting to wake up, half expecting to open his eyes and still be back in his room, staring at the brown sweater vests, envisioning something he could never have.

But when his eyes flew back open, it was all real, and Derek was right in front of him with a soft look in his eyes, a look Spencer trusted with his life. 

“I made dinner. Stir fry, and I brought chopsticks just for you,” Derek grinned, pulling two sets of chopsticks from the cooler. 

Spencer’s mouth hung open. Derek _knew_ he was completely incapable of using chopsticks. He wouldn’t, would he?

“Spencer. I’m kidding.” Derek tossed the chopsticks behind him into the sand, and Spencer looked away, embarrassed.

“Jeez, well at least don’t litter.” Spencer gestured at the chopsticks sticking out from the sand.

“Relax, pretty boy. It was only for the effect.” Derek grabbed the chopsticks and shoved them in an outer pocket of the cooler. “I would say I’m sorry for always teasing you, but I can’t help it. You make the cutest little face when you get flustered.” Derek said it so casually as he reached into the cooler and pulled out their real dinner. Spencer felt himself get all flustered and blushy, and realized that was exactly what Derek wanted.

The wind picked up, pulling at the corners of the blanket and threatening to rip a stack of napkins from Derek’s hand. One fluttered away, but Spencer caught it. He reached over and handed the napkin back, but Derek didn’t take it. He just brushed the hairs out of Spencer’s eyes. Spencer was jealous of him for a moment, wishing little cute things like that could come naturally to him too. It wasn’t fair that Derek kept his hair buzzed. Now he had to come up with something all on his own to do. He couldn’t let Derek make all the moves. 

After playing roulette with all the corny gestures he’d seen in romcoms, Spencer decided he wanted to try leaning his head on Derek’s shoulder. It really sounded stupid when his brain actually thought the words, _I should lean my head on Derek’s shoulder._ But another part of his brain was just caught up in the idea of Derek’s muscles and the potential of surprising him a little with the gesture.

So, holding his breath, Spencer did it. And it was quite nice. Spencer couldn’t see his face, but he knew Derek was smiling as he leaned his head on Spencer’s, planting a kiss in Spencer’s hair. They looked out across the lake together, watching the sky slowly turn a brilliant orange and the sun began to dip behind the flowering trees.

“You ready to try my mother’s recipe?” Derek whispered in Spencer’s ear after a while. Spencer nodded into Derek’s shoulder, then pulled away, excited to see what Derek had cooked for him. _For him!_

“As long as I can use a fork to eat it.”

“Sorry sweetheart, no forks. I got some finger food for you.” Derek handed him something tinfoil wrapped. “My mom’s semi-famous pita wraps. Beats a ham and cheese or a PB and J school lunch any day.”

Peeling back the tinfoil, Spencer could smell the allspice and cinnamon. Derek urged him to try it, and after a first bite that was ninety percent pita, he got to the good stuff. It tasted… warm, in a weird but good way, and it tasted even better knowing that Derek had made it for him, and was sitting next to him, smiling that radiant smile.

“It’s okay if you hate it,” Derek laughed at Spencer’s silence.

“No no no, Derek, I love it. I, I…” He trailed off. “This is all so nice of you. I mean, you literally carried me through the woods to this romantic setting and I…”

“You can set up the next date. Surprise me. Take me anywhere.” Derek gestured widely at the lake, suggesting that the orange sky was the limit.

Spencer thought about where he’d like to take Derek. He wanted to just go out and get ice cream and sit on a park bench and talk, or go to the library, or to see one of the plays his mom used to read him when he was a kid. As Hallmark card as those things all sounded, Spencer suddenly felt self conscious. Even though this date got off to a rough start, he still didn’t feel like he could set up something like this. He had no idea what he was doing. 

Looking out across the lake, Spencer wondered… wondered if he could ever catch up.

“Derek, do you take lots of people here on first dates?” Spencer asked.

“What? No. I… Spencer…” Derek put his hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “I actually haven’t been up here since I was a kid.”

“Really?” Spencer looked over at him sheepishly, suddenly feeling guilty that he’d even asked the question. But he did really want to know. He didn’t want to waste his time if this was just another fling to Derek.

“Spencer… I know I’ve dated a lot of people. Some people would say it’s not the healthiest, but it was almost a way for me to unwind after stressful days at work. But I promise you, you’re different.” Spencer avoided eye contact with him, but Derek slid his hand to Spencer’s jawline, asking him gently to look at him.

“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what I’m doing.” Spencer sighed, and finally looked Derek in the eyes.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I know you haven’t been on too many dates, but you’re honest about it and open to try new things. We’re so different from each other, but that’s what I like about you, Spencer. You see the world so differently from anyone I’ve ever met, and yeah, I poke fun sometimes. But that’s only because I think you’re cute, and I know you can take it. You know exactly who you are, and that’s kinda hot.” Derek pinched Spencer’s ear and tugged on it teasingly, and Spencer couldn’t resist the urge to smile again.

“Thank you Derek. I only said that because… because I do really like you.”

“I figured.”

“And that little speech was really cheesy.” Spencer chuckled. Derek turned to look at him, almost genuinely hurt. It was finally Derek’s turn to realize he was being messed with, and Spencer reveled in it. “But I liked it. I don’t think I can say something as eloquently, but you’re really kindhearted, and fun, and clever, and thoughtful, and… I know I can always be myself around you.”

“And you said _I_ was cheesy.” Derek wrapped his arm around Spencer’s shoulders and pulled him closer. Spencer sank into him, finally relaxing fully for the first time all day. 

The sun disappeared behind the trees, bouncing reds and pinks off the bottoms of the clouds. As the stars began to outshine the sun, Derek laid back onto the blanket, and Spencer found himself curled up next to him, resting his head on Derek’s chest. 

“Hey Spencer, is it true that that one star in Orion already went supernova, but it takes the light so long to get to Earth that we haven’t seen it yet?” Derek pointed at an orange speck, close to the horizon to the west. 

“Betelgeuse? Actually no. The remainder of its lifespan is estimated at a hundred thousand years, but it’s only about seven hundred light years away from Earth.” Spencer replied, pulling facts from the astronomy elective he took his freshman year of undergrad.

“Beetle juice…” Derek smiled at the sound of it. “But the point still stands that we won’t know it blew up until seven hundred years later?”

“Basically.” 

Derek whistled and gestured at the sky as more stars began to appear. “Makes you feel small.” 

Spencer nodded in agreement. Derek had his arm around Spencer’s shoulders, running his fingers through Spencer’s hair. Spencer’s ear was pressed against Derek’s chest and he could hear his heartbeat, a steady soothing sound. He felt small, but he also felt… safe, and so happy that he didn’t care if he was just a speck of dust, sent spinning by the movement of the galaxy.

“Ready for a swim?” Derek interrupted his thoughts.

“Wait, what?” Spencer picked his head up from Derek’s chest and looked at him, concerned, but quickly melting at that big grin.

“You thought I brought you to this gorgeous lake just to look at it?” Derek stood, ripped off his shirt, and tossed it at Spencer, distracting him and preventing him from coming up with a comeback, or just… any words to reply. “Come on, pretty boy. I love that purple sweater vest on you, but right now, I want you to take it off.” Derek winked, stripped to his underwear, and ran into the lake.

There was a lot to unpack in that last ten seconds, and Spencer was reeling, speechless, but still taking off the sweater vest he almost didn’t wear. The sweater vest Derek said he loved. _What a cheesy line,_ Spencer thought to himself. But they were both kind of cheesy people, and he kind of loved it.

The water was cold on his bare skin, but it was a refreshing cold. Spencer quickly put his head underwater to get the cold over with, coming back up with his hair plastered to the sides of his face. It was almost too dark for Spencer to see, but the moon was just beginning to peak out from behind the clouds, reflecting off the water and revealing Derek’s smiling face. 

Derek dove under the water and stayed hidden for just a second longer than Spencer wanted to have his eyes off him. Then he popped up from under the water just inches from Spencer, water dripping from his eyelashes. 

“Der, I…” Spencer breathed, then stopped.

“What is it Spencer? If you’re not ready, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I promised you I’d protect you—”

“No, I… I was about to ask if I can kiss you.” Spencer broke eye contact, sheepishly. Derek’s hand found Spencer’s under the water, and he laced his fingers through Spencer’s.

“I don’t know, _can you?”_ Derek replied, trying to keep a straight face, but his grin won out. 

“You…” Spencer sputtered and laughed. 

“Close your eyes.” Derek whispered, and Spencer did.

When Derek kissed him, Spencer thought he’d feel like he had been catapulted out of his body, but he was surprised to feel more… _here_ than he ever had before. The part of his brain that was constantly whirring away at lightspeed suddenly stopped and let him enjoy the moment. He became acutely aware of the coldness of the water and the warmth of Derek’s body pressed up against his, acutely aware of Derek’s hands cupping his face and tangling themselves in his wet hair, acutely aware of the sensation of Derek's eyelashes brushing his cheek. It was weird to compare the feeling to being drunk, but the similarities existed. Only the quiet and the peace and the joy that blossomed in his heart when he was kissing Derek blew away any other.

An eternity later, they pulled apart to breathe, arms around each other, swaying in the water. Spencer never wanted to move again, never wanted to leave...

But then a thought dawned on Spencer. “Derek, how are we going to get home?”

“Don’t worry, I texted Elle and she said she’d pick us up.” Derek reassured him.

“Wait, Elle knows?” Spencer thought back to his last conversation with her, deathly embarrassed. She knew the whole damn time why Spencer was acting weird. Derek just laughed and ruffled his hair.


End file.
